This invention relates to a wire harness mounting structure to be used for an electric circuit of a motor vehicle door.
Generally, a door of a motor vehicle comprises, as main component members thereof, an external door frame and an internal covering board usually called a trim cover. As shown in FIG. 1, a door wire harness W in bundle form is disposed in a space within a door frame A. The door wire harness W is provided at its end portions with branch wires w1, w2, w3, w4, w5, . . . respectively, having connectors c1, c2, c3, c4, c5 . . . attached thereto. The branch wires w1 and w2 are connected to a power wind motor and a solenoid for locking an automatic door within the door frame A, respectively, through the connectors c1 and c2. The branch wires w3, w4, and w5 are drawn out through a working window H and connected to a cartesi-lamp, trunk opening switch, power wind switch, etc., provided on a trim cover B by the connectors c3, c4 and c5, respectively. The door wire harness W is drawn out through a grommet G and connected to a cowl side harness at the vehicle body side by a connector C.
The door wire harness W is inserted in the door frame A through the working window H, and at the same time, the grommet G, which was fixed thereto in advance, is drawn out with its connector C through a hole of the door frame A, and similarly, a clamp K, which was likewise fixed thereto in advance, is engaged in a hole formed in the bottom portion of the door frame A, thereby fixing the door wire harness W to a predetermined wiring path. The connectors c1 and c2 are then connected to electric equipment within the door frame A, and the connectors c3, c4 and c5 are connected to electric equipment of the trim cover B. Thereafter, the trim cover B is fixed to the door frame A. However, in this conventional method, much time is required to insert the door wire harness W in the door frame A, and also to secure a clamp K to the door wire harness W. Securing the clamp K to the wire harness W is often carried out blindly in a narrow space. This considerably slows down the production of motor vehicles in the production line thereof.
In view of the above, there has been a proposal in Japanese utility model application No. 58(1983)-5397, wherein a wire harness is attached in advance to a sealing sheet, which is mounted to the door frame, in order to reduce labor and time for wiring the door wire harness W within the door frame.
According to this method after the sealing sheet is attached to the door frame through its peripheral portion, connectors of the branch wires are connected to electric equipment within the door frame. Thereafter, connectors of the remaining branch wires are connected to electric equipment of the trim cover and at the same time, the trim cover is fixed to the door frame. In this case, connection of the branch wires in the production line of motor vehicles is left undone. Since the sealing sheet is formed of a soft synthetic resin material, much time is required to mount it, and usually requires specialized bonding means. It is also extremely difficult to maintain the shape of the sheet when it is stored or transported often resulting in entangled branch wires. Also, retaining the wire harness merely by the sealing sheet is not sufficient, especially when it is used in circumstances under severe vibrations. Accordingly, it must be fixed to the door frame in advance, again requiring additional labor.
Another related art is disclosed in Japanese utility model early disclosure No. 56(1981)-97814, wherein one end portion of a conventional wire harness for a motor vehicle door is drawn out from the door through a grommet, reaches the vehicle body side from the door side by engagement with the respective holes, and connects to a cowl side harness within the vehicle body through a connector.
However, in the above-mentioned related art wherein the door wire harness is mounted to the door frame of a motor vehicle through the grommet, the end portion of the wire harness is thrusted through the thrusting hole formed in the door through the grommet, and thereafter, it is further required to be thrusted through another thrusting hole formed in the vehicle body side. Accordingly, this thrusting action and the requirement that it be performed twice, proves troublesome and, again, considerably slows down the production of motor vehicles in the production line thereof.
The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned inconveniences inherent in the prior art.